Baltimore bridge collapse and port closure send companies scrambling to reroute cargo

BY DAVID MCHUGH, ANNE D’INNOCENZIO, PAUL WISEMAN AND TOM KRISHER

The stunning collapse of Baltimore’s Francis Scott Key Bridge is diverting shipping and trucking around one of the busiest ports on America’s East Coast, creating delays and raising costs in the latest disruption to global supply chains.

After the container ship Dali hit the bridge and brought it down early Tuesday, ship traffic entering and leaving the Port of Baltimore was suspended indefinitely. That will require rerouting vessels or their cargo to other ports, potentially causing congestion and delays for importers, said Judah Levine, head of research for the global freight booking platform Freightos.

“People right now are figuring out where are they going and what are their options,’’ Ami Daniel, CEO of the maritime intelligence company Windward in Tel Aviv, Israel, said.

The Dali was the only container vessel in the port at the time of the collision, but